# Castore

J. Carter Sporting Club Limited, operating as Castore (/ˈkæstɔːr/, KAS-tor), is a British manufacturer of sportswear and athletic clothing, headquartered in Manchester, England. The company's products are now sold worldwide and have sponsorship deals with association football teams, cricket teams, rugby union teams, Formula One teams, and tennis players.

## History

The company was founded in 2015 by brothers Thomas and Philip Beahon, when they were 25 and 22 years old respectively. Tom had been a professional youth football player for Tranmere Rovers between the ages of 17 and 21 before spending time at Jerez Industrial in Spain and attending the Glenn Hoddle Academy. Phil played semi-professional cricket for Cheshire and Lancashire cricket clubs.
The pair left their playing careers in 2013 and moved to London to work in finance in an effort to raise money for their sportswear venture; Tom worked at Lloyds Bank and Phil for Deloitte. During their time in London they began their market research by interviewing patrons of high-end gymnasiums and signing up a number of prolific investors from the fashion and sporting industries. Castore launched online in 2016. In 2019 Forbes listed the pair in their "30 Under 30" list.
On 5 July 2023, it was announced that Castore is to open its first shop in Ireland, on Dublin's Grafton Street. In March 2024, Castore has secured an exclusive deal with GL Dameck to become the sole licensee for Umbro Professional Team Sports, enabling them to distribute the Umbro brand across several key European markets.

## Sponsorships

2019
In January 2019, Castore became the official kit partner to British tennis champion Andy Murray, who also became a shareholder in the company in March of that year. The company brands Murray's products as AMC, and it became the official apparel partner of the Lawn Tennis Association. Marlie Packer, who plays for England's women's rugby union team, is a brand ambassador for Castore. In December 2019, Cricket West Indies signed a three-year deal with Castore to produce their official kit.
2020
In early 2020, Castore secured £7.5 million in funds from undisclosed private investors to help the company move into elite professional football. In May 2020, Castore became the official kit supplier of Scottish Premiership club, Rangers on a five-year deal believed to be worth £25 million.
2021
In May 2021, McLaren and Castore announced a multi-year deal for them to become the official team apparel and sportswear partner to the McLaren Formula One team. In the same month, Castore signed a multi-year deal with Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers to become their new on-field partner. This partnership deviated from previous agreements held by the company, with Castore providing the playing staff with kits, while Wolves manufactured and distributed the replica kits under license.
In June 2021, it was announced that rugby union side Saracens had agreed a five-year supply deal with Castore ahead of their return to Premiership Rugby in the 2021–22 season. The deal also included additional partnerships with Saracens' women's team and Saracens Mavericks netball team. In July 2021, Castore signed a multi-year deal with Premier League club Newcastle United to become their new kit manufacturer.
In September 2021, it was announced that the England and Wales Cricket Board had signed a ten-year deal with Castore worth £25 million to become the official kit supplier, starting from April 2022. The same month Cricket South Africa signed a three-year deal with Castore to produce their official kit, although a new technical partner was announced with more than 12 months left on the original deal. In December Kent County Cricket Club announced it would partner with Castore as a technical partner beginning in the 2022 season.
2022
Ahead of the 2022–23 season, Castore continued its expansion into professional football, announcing new partnerships with Premier League club Aston Villa, English Football League clubs Charlton Athletic, Milton Keynes Dons and Salford City, as well as La Liga club Sevilla, Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and Serie B club Genoa.
2023
Ahead of the 2023 Formula One season, Red Bull Racing announced that they would be leaving Puma for Castore for the 2023 Formula One season.
Starting in the 2023–24 football season in The Netherlands, Feyenoord announced that they will leave Adidas after 9 years for Castore and in April 2023 FC Utrecht and FC Twente also announced to start with Castore for the 2023–2024 season.
And also starting the 2023 MotoGP season, Repsol Honda Team announced that will leave Alpinestars for Castore as the new official team apparel.
Furthermore, in March 2023 Worcestershire CCC announced a multi-season partnership with Castore.
In June 2023 GNK Dinamo Zagreb also announced to start with Castore for the 2024–2025 season. Glentoran F.C. also announced a partnership with Castore for the 2023–2024 season.
In December 2023, it was announced that New Zealand Cricket had signed a six-year deal with Castore as the outfitter of Blackcaps and White Ferns. They will start with Castore from October 2024.
2024
In June 2024 it was announced that Castore had signed a multi-year deal with Everton F.C. starting 2024/25 season as kit manufacturers and stadium sponsors at the new Everton Stadium.

### Association football
#### National teams

* Republic of Ireland

#### Club teams

* Burnley
* Charlton Athletic
* Everton
* Huddersfield Town
* Mansfield Town
* Milton Keynes Dons
* Preston North End
* Rangers
* Glentoran
* Almería
* Athletic Club
* Carrús Ilicitana
* Sevilla
* Club Brugge
* Bayer Leverkusen
* 1. FC Kaiserslautern
* Feyenoord
* Twente
* Utrecht
* Dinamo Zagreb
* FC Zürich

### Rugby union
#### National teams

* United States

#### Club teams

* Bath
* Harlequins
* Saracens
* Scarlets
* Leinster
* Ulster

### Rugby league

* Hull F.C.
* Sydney Roosters

### Cricket
#### National teams

* England
* New Zealand

#### County teams

* Kent
* Middlesex
* Surrey
* Worcestershire

### Cycling

* Team Bahrain Victorious
* INEOS Grenadiers

### Golf

* Andy Sullivan

### Motor racing
#### Auto racing
##### Formula One

* McLaren
* Red Bull Racing
* Alpine F1 Team

##### IndyCar Series

* / Arrow McLaren

##### NASCAR Cup Series

* Hendrick Motorsports
* Joe Gibbs Racing
* Spire Motorsports

#### Electric racing

* McLaren Electric Racing (Extreme E and Formula E)
* Maserati MSG Racing (Formula E)

#### Motorcycle racing
##### MotoGP

* Honda HRC

### Swimming

* Adam Peaty

### Taekwondo

* GB Taekwondo

### Tennis
#### Events

* Lawn Tennis Association

#### Players

* Andy Murray
* Lloyd Glasspool

## Ownership

As of August 2021, the company has 33 shareholders with the largest being the two founders, each with 18.59%, and Monte Group (Jersey) LTD with 15%.
Other shareholders of the company include Robert Senior (former CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi), Tom Singh (founder of New Look), YOOX Net-a-Porter Group investor Arnaud Massenet, and tennis player Andy Murray.

## Criticism

Castore has come under heavy criticism from both fans and teams, particularly about the quality and design of its products.

### Aston Villa

In September 2023, the kit Castore designed for Aston Villa's men's and women's team's received criticism from players due to the shirts soaking sweat, leading to them visibly changing colour, as well as becoming heavy and uncomfortable as a match went on.
The Villa women's team were reported to have "dreaded" wearing the shirt because of how it clung to the body as it became wet.
As well as requesting a short-term solution, Aston Villa looked to end their contract with Castore early as a result of player complaints regarding the kit.
In December 2023, Castore delivered a new Aston Villa kit which they hoped would resolve the issues, however it was reported that the club still wanted to sever its multi-year contract with the brand.
Ultimately, in January 2024, it was revealed that Aston Villa had severed their contract with Castore and opted to move instead to Adidas.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Between the inception of the business and mid-2021 the company headquarters were located in and around Liverpool.
* ↑ Monte Group is an investment company owned by Mohsin and Zuber Issa of EG Group.